Fur of Future, Old friend's found and lost
by Aaron Anderson
Summary: The third story in this series: An elite squad of Squirrels are sent to retrieve an important relic from a Tediz research lab deep in the wastes, meanwhile the enemy pushes ever onwards in Squirrel country, Dusk and the team are sent to help aid a retreat


A chill wind blew over the icy plains that night. Fir shifted about uncomfortably and peered into the darkness. He felt numb, condensation had frosted over his fur giving it a pale sheen. It was quiet. He thought he could hear the light patter of footsteps in the snow and reached for his flashlight only to stop short when he felt a sharp point brush his back, a dagger!

"Surprise" it's wielder said, Fir turned to meet the deep brown eyes of his assailant.

"M-Maple", he exclaimed his mouth now drier than usual "I should have guessed"

The Squirrel sheathed her dagger and twitched her small nose,

"Well of course it's me, no Tediz could ever sneak up on such a wary Squirrel as you Fir" she said, then giggled "you can have your flashlight back though, oh and Dusk is waiting for you in the tower" and with that Maple slipped silently back into the darkness.

"Uh, thanks, Maple" said Fir. He placed the flashlight firmly back into it's holster, what an amazing Squirrel he thought before heading off to find Dusk.

The tower was part of a deserted and ruined fort that had been used back during the Weasel Wars. Fir ascended the spiral staircase and entered one of the ante-chambers to find Dusk and the Sarge discussing plans. He made himself comfortable by the fire and listened to what was being said.

"So now that you've dragged us out to the middle of nowhere Dusk-"

"Hey intelligence suggested that-"

"Intelligence, sonny, would do you a world of good", interrupted the Sarge "you had better be right or else it's your butt on the line!"

Fir shook his head in despair, it was always like this between these two.

"Guys c'mon now, let's save the fighting for the enemy, intelligence did report this place to be the likely target so can we please just have the mission brief?" he asked. This caused the pair to break off their quarrel. An older Squirrel who had been sitting in one of the old chairs stood up and gave Fir a pat on the back.

"Well done my boy, watching these two bicker back and forth like a pair of old Squirrel wives was driving me insane" he said almost seriously. On his shoulder the faded emblem of a Para-Squirrel over the number 56 showed.

"Ahemm, the lad's right, let's get on with it shall we?" asked the Sarge. Dusk gestured in agreement.

"Okay the enemy research laboratory is located here", said the Sarge pointing out a mark upon the maps scattered across the table "our little maiden will provide us access through here", the Sarge pulled out a blueprint "she will then create a diversion so Dusk and Fir can retrieve the target."

"Then I'll fly in and pick us all up and we'll make it back in time for tea" finished Sir Copperleaf.

The team geared up

"Let's move it out." said Dusk.

Fir and dusk hid behind a snow bank as they waited for the piercing glare of a searchlight to pass them. Tediz patrolled the Lab grounds and boundary fence. The pair barely made it to cover again as the searchlight swept back round. Fir spotted Maple beckoning them, he and Dusk crawled over to her position, they ducked under a hole that had been cut in the fencing and crouched down behind several dumpster bins.

"Maple" Fir began

"Shh, no time Fir, climb up here quickly" urged Maple before she clambered up into the vent herself. Dusk followed suit and pulled himself up into the gap, Fir took one last look behind then climbed in after them.

It was a tight fit in the ventilation shaft and Fir was starting to worry if it would get any narrower. They crawled through it for what seemed an age until finally dropping down into an empty room. Maple checked her pack while Fir checked Maple.

"Okay I'm off to place the charges, you two retrieve the target and I'll meet you at the rendezvous point, don't keep me waiting!" Maple said.

"Uh-uh yes Maam!" replied Fir. With a sweep of her tail Maple left the two.

Fir felt a tapping on his shoulder and saw Dusk pointing towards the doorway.

"Come on lover boy we've got our own job to do" Dusk said, Fir's fur went slightly pinkish.

As the pair moved along the corridors they perceived muffled explosions. They had to duck into a nearby closet as Tediz ran past, shouting orders in their coarse language.

"Good girl Maple" whispered Dusk, Fir smiled knowing the trouble she must be causing the Tediz.

Deeper into the complex they went until they came across large blast doors.

"This is it, it all comes down to this pass code, let's hope it was worth the lives it took to get it" said Dusk as he typed it into the keypad. A little red light came on and the message 'Access denied' appeared.

"Damn" cried Dusk slamming his paw onto the control panel making the message come up again.

"Here let me try" said Fir. He shot at the control panel causing it to spark furiously and the light rapidly blinked green and red. Finally it settled on green even though it still said access denied, the doors slid open and the Squirrels entered.

Inside instruments of science and strange experiments lined the shelves along the walls. At the far end of the room rested a large tank full of a phosphorous liquid. Tediz doctors stood at lab-tops wearing radiation suits and working away at one project or another. The door shut behind them with a loud bang. The Tediz turned to face them and they had to dive out of the way of a flurry of sharp tools that were thrown. Fir let loose his sturm and hit a Tediz who was out in the open , blood splattered on the visor of it's radiation suit. Other Tediz tried to rush them but were neatly carved under the quick trigger of Dusk. The final Tediz had taken cover and kept up a constant stream of razor sharp equipment at the Squirrels.

"Cover me" said Dusk who began to weave his way towards the enemy. A lull in the fire caused the Tediz doctor to stand up only to be hit heavily over the head by Dusk and crumple to the ground. Dusk and Fir walked over to the glowing tube at the end of the room. Dusk grabbed a nearby spanner, smashed the glass then leapt aside as pearlescent fluid flowed out. Fir caught the form that fell out of the tank. "Hello old friend" said Dusk.

Fir cradled the body in his arms as he and Dusk ran for the rendezvous point, parts of the lab were burning now. They burst out of the exit to see a guard tower erupt into flames just as a Mule flew in over head.

"Hop aboard lads" cried the Sarge reaching out for them. Fir climbed in and placed the body upon the med-bed.

"Where's Maple?" asked Dusk, Fir looked about frantically for the Squirrel maid.

"Sarge, I do rather think it's about time to leave" Sir Copperleaf called back from the cockpit as Tediz began to arrive in number.

"Wait, there she is!" Fir said pointing outwards

"We're going" exclaimed Copperleaf as he started to take off

"Jump for it m'gel!" shouted the Sarge

Maple leapt, her outstretched paws almost grasping the edge but she started falling again, strong paws grabbed hers and she was pulled up to safety. Maple lay there panting.

"Thank you Fir"

"Jolly good job Fir! Let's get our friend here to see the Doc' so we can all get some well earned rest" said the Sarge.

Dusk sat clutching a familiar paw, hold on pal, hold on Nutt.

Blurred images flashed past, white coats, Squirrels. Panicked voices to the rise of beeping, the smell of anaesthetic, darkness. Steady beeping, darkness again.

"Hush, he's coming around"

Nutt rose blearily, blinded by a harsh light

"Nutt, can you hear me? It's Dusk, how do you feel?" he was asked

"Dusk, that you? My eyes hurt, am I dead?" Nutt asked as he groped in the blankness

"Far from it laddy, in fact, you look younger than ever" said the Sarge

"Captain, who else is there? Fir are you there?"

"I'm here alright Nutt", said Fir stepping forwards "we missed you"

"Greyfur, you there pal?"

The Squirrels looked at each other in awkward silence, the Sarge cleared his throat

"Err, Greyfur isn't here right now, you better rest now son"

They left their rejuvenated friend to get some sleep.

Nutt sat up in his bunk with a cold sweat, it was quiet in the dorms. He put both feet on the floor and heard an odd clinking sound. He walked to the bathroom, the noise seemed to follow him along the way, turned on the light and looked into the mirror.

Squirrels awoke to a mortified wail that screeched through the corridors. Dusk, Fir and the rest ran down to the medical dormitory, they rushed into the bathroom to find Nutt huddled up in the corner.

"They did this to me, bastards, they cut me up!" he foamed "they, they cut off my Squirrel hood!"

Dusk and the Sarge dragged Nutt off to a private room away from the prying eyes of half the S.H.C.

"How long was I out of it for?" Nutt asked now that he had calmed down sufficiently.

"Are you sure you want to here this?" asked Dusk, Nutt nodded

"Almost 15 years" said Dusk, Nutts eye twitched slightly

"And when did all… this happen?" he said pointing to his mechanical limbs.

"The Tediz had you captured and used you for experiments, kept you mobile so you were hard to track down" answered Fir whilst he tried not to look directly at Nutt's cybernetic eye.

"Look son, things have changed a bit since you were last with us, I was appointed Sarge and ordered to create a specialist team to help fight the Tediz" the Sarge explained

"Tediz, didn't we beat those guys back at the beach? What were you guys doing? And were is Greyfur?"

"Nutt" sighed Dusk "Greyfur's dead".

Nutt stood up and paced the room, his metal foot paw clanking against the floor.

"So when do I get to meet this team then?"

Maple and Sir Copperleaf rose to attention as the Sarge entered the room.

"Gentlemen, and of course Ladies, please welcome an old acquaintance, Nutt" said the Sarge

They watched Nutt clank in followed by Dusk and Fir.

"Gooday"

"Hi"

"You already know Dusk and Fir, the two others are Sir Copperleaf who we met not long after your unfortunate departure and miss Maple, a new recruit but nonetheless quite capable in the field." the Sarge told him. Nutt's eye seemed to twitch again.

"This is the elite squad? Five Squirrels against an army of Tediz?" said Nutt incredulously

"Well if you don't like it I'm sure the Tediz will be more than delighted to have you back again" said Sir Copperleaf

"Settle down now Copperleaf, Nutt they're quite a reliable bunch and as a matter of fact we were hoping you'd join the team, what do you say?" the Sarge enquired.

"What, have top secret missions in exotic locales were we fight enemy forces of evil? Forget it! I've already sacrificed too much for you guys" said Nutt

"Did I mention the pay?" asked the Sarge

"Keep talking" said Nutt.

Thunder boomed overhead, heavy sleets of rain pounded the S.H.C. command tent which was full of noisy Squirrels. One such Squirrel banged his fist several times on a table bringing the others attention to him "Silence!" roared the big fellow and quiet fell about the crowd.

"Thank you Dozer" said another, smaller Squirrel, who stepped forwards. He scratched one of his ears which had fluffed up fur sprouting from them.

"Well then, what seems to be the problem?"

This brought forth an immediate surge of noise from the assembled party.

"One at a time, one at a time!" he shouted, the noise lessened somewhat.

"Yep, better, you then?" he pointed to a thin Squirrel near the front.

"Sir, what exactly are we gonna do? There's less than half of us here since we first arrived!" the murmur of voices rose and fell again until all eyes were trained upon the lead Squirrel.

"Well, what do you propose we do?" he asked only to start up the arguments.

"I say we blow the bridges and retreat for safety" shouted one voice to a general chatter of agreement. The noise died down, the lead Squirrel shook his head hopelessly. A sudden voice came from the back.

"That's the thing about you sneekers nowadays, always the first to run, not like back in my day, I remember when it was only five of us, five Squirrels against a thousand enemies armed and bristling" said a veteran Squirrel walking to the front "we only had one stick and rocks, and we had to share the stick! We won the war because we were the most damn determinated sonsabitches out there, so I say we fight, fight for glory!"

From the entrance a single Squirrel clapped.

"Chip you old codger, you sure know how to give a good speech" said Sir Copperleaf. He and the team had slipped in quietly during the debate.

"Winch, is that you pal? Bless me, how long's it been?" asked Chip trying to focus upon the Squirrel

"Too long my friend, and it's Sir Copperleaf now you know" replied Copperleaf. The group marched up to the front, the other Squirrels parting for them, excited murmuring filled the tent. Nutt sniffed authoritavely.

"Huh, most of em are probably new recruits if ever I saw em."

"Hush Nutt", said the Sarge "right lads, who's in charge here?" he addressed the crowd.

"That would be me Sergeant" piped up the lead Squirrel who saluted hastily "Lieutenant Tuft reporting for duty"

"Lieutenant, what's the situation?" asked the Sarge

"Not to good, not many of us left, the Tediz hit us here heavily, about 500 in each wave nearly half of which are the new Tediz" reported Tuft

"New Tediz?" whispered Nutt

Maple shivered as she felt the red glow of his eye pass over her "Their experiments with you didn't end with nothing" she whispered back.

The Sarge turned to Dusk with a questioning look. Dusk sighed and turned to the anticipated faces of the Squirrels.

"Many of you have not seen much active combat and I doubt we will be able to fend off an attack from the enemy if they muster their full might, but you all heard Chip, we must stand our ground for as long as needed to evacuate the surrounding villages."

The Squirrels stared blankly for a moment.

"Well what are you waiting for? Let's get to work!" shouted Nutt causing the Squirrels to trip over each other in their hurry, Chip sighed at the rabble much to Sir Copperleaf's amusement.

The Squirrels were waiting at a pass near the village, they had taken up point at two bridges that spanned a yawning chasm. Dusk and a few others had set up a small command post and were busy discussing battle plans. Dozer came panting up the hill along with Nutt.

"Explosive charges set, Sir" he said once he'd caught his breath.

"Very good, you and Nutt get to your stations now" replied Dusk . He pulled out binoculars and scanned the horizon, at the far side of the bridges ran a low wall which some 10-15 metres behind camped the enemy.

"Looks to be more than I first thought" Dusk looked uncertainly at the Sarge. A wireless receiver crackled to life

"I only have a handful of pilots Dusk, we're starting the take off runs in three" came Sir Copperleaf's voice. Sirens sounded the familiar warning call, enemy bomber planes, the Sarge put on his helmet.

"Here they come" said Chip.

The enemy force began marching down to the wall which was now the Squirrels first line of defence, Lieutenant Tuft stood at the ready.

"When they get in range, let em have it!" he shouted encouragingly. The young soldiers fumbled their rifles clumsily in their sweaty paws, nervous as they crouched down behind the wall. The pounding of enemy soldiers feet had broken into a fast paced run, aircraft flew in overhead and the unnerving whistling sound was heard, bombs shook and damaged the wall catching several Squirrels in the blast but the line was not broken. Above, Sir Copperleaf and his wingmen had joined the foray and aerial combat ensued.

"Steady, take aim…" said Tuft peering down his sight at the growling mass of enemies as it grew closer and closer.

"Fire!" he cried. Their shots rang out upon the field and many Tediz fell but still many more came.

"Fire!" Tuft launched more bullets at the Tediz scoring a direct hit, the heftier Squirrels wielding rockets fired deep into the enemy ranks causing much carnage. Unfortunately this caused the Tediz to spread apart more and put on an even greater spurt of speed.

"Fire at will!" exclaimed Tuft who began exchanging bullets with the enemy which pushed unceasingly forwards nonetheless, several Squirrels started to go down around him. Pushing aside the bodies the Lieutenant could see that the line would soon be lost.

"Fall back, fall back to the second defence!" he ordered, most of the line broke off and began to sprint towards the building compound, a brave group stayed at the wall to give them some form of cover. Those few were on full automatic and much swearing and shouting could be heard as they valiantly gave their lives. Lieutenant Tuft felt a tear forming in his eye. He met up with the force at the second defence.

"Here I am a dozen years in the future and we still use bullets? Yeah we're all set here let's give them something to remember" said Nutt. The Squirrels had taken on a different tactic, fighting in the urban landscape was something new to the Tediz. It was here on the streets and in the confined spaces that the Squirrels could really hold their own. Fighting from building to building slowed the Tediz but one by one they began too clear their way through. Nutt had one final trick to play. Angry snarls filled the air as Tediz were burnt alive in buildings that the Squirrels set alight after abandoning them. The stall wasn't going to last forever though as heavy enemy armour rolled into site. The remaining Squirrels hightailed it back across the bridges to the third and final defence.

"Dusk, I've only got a couple of planes left up here, I won't be able to hold out much longer" .

"Just hold it together a little longer" said Dusk peering at the sky.

"Sir, they just keep coming!" said Lieutenant Tuft, it was true, the enemy were now heading across the bridges towards Dusk and the rest.

"When they get around 5 metres close, you know what to do" said the Sarge

"Dusk… I can't hold her… going down" crackled the wireless

"Sir Copperleaf, Copperleaf?!" cried Dusk, the ground shook as explosives tore out the bridges supports and it crumbled down into the chasm along with several hundred Tediz.

"Alright, we did it!" cheered Maple before hugging Fir who stood awkwardly with a silly grin on his face whilst Nutt danced about delirious with joy. A crackling came through the receiver

"Sir Copperleaf?" started Dusk but only a string of beeps came through.

"What on Earth?" he said, Chip came next to him

"Huh? Sounds like morse code"

"What does it mean?" asked Dusk

"Look what we have got", replied Chip "mean anything to you?"

Dusk looked through his binoculars at the other side of the canyon to see a large Tediz holding up the kicking struggling form of Sir Copperleaf.

THE END


End file.
